Category Archives: Restaurant Reviews

As I expected, no sooner than we post news of new restaurants, word arrives of even more that are planned for the near future. It does not seem that local appetites have reached the saturation point just yet.

According to a story in the Courier-Journal, thesecond location of Roof Top Grill, a Jamaican restaurant in the West End, will open in November at 414 W. Oak St.

Roof Top Grill has been serving the native cuisine of Jamaican owner Courtney Johnson for about five years. During that time he has fended off queries about his opening another location. He felt the time had come when the site in Old Louisville became available.

The menu of traditional Jamaican fare will include jerk chicken, curry with chicken, turkey and goat and rib tips, along with Kentucky favorites like fried catfish, barbecue and beef patties.

Johnson hopes to open the first week of November. He’ll have a full bar at this location; look for Jamaican beer and white rum among the drinks.

Nouvelle, aFrench-style wine bar, is expected to open in mid-November at 214 S. Clay St. in NuLu. Insider Louisville reported that the bar will sell more than 40 wines by the glass and 200 to 300 wines by the bottle. The focus will be on affordable, interesting wines. Customers can choose a three-ounce, six-ounce or nine-ounce pour, with prices varying.

In addition to wine, a selection of beers, ciders, classic cocktails, bourbons and scotches also will be available. A small bites menu of items such as cheese, charcuterie, hummus and bread, will be served, along with desserts.

Ryan Rogers, who last week opened bar Vetti, an Italian restaurant and bar in the 800 Building, has announced plans for his restaurant group HiCotton Hospitality, to open the third iteration of his first local restaurant, Feast BBQ in Jeffersontown.

A date for an opening of that suburban location has not yet been determined.

Hull & High Water, downtown New Albany’s much-anticipated seafood restaurant, will open today, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. at 324 E. Main St., after a silly kerfuffle about the name being too similar to a yet-to-open bar (Hell and High Water) in downtown Louisville. Continue reading Hull & High Water opens today→

Yesterday, F&D posted that Science Hill Inn has closed. That is the case: the Gill family decided that with the continuing medical needs of Chef Ellen Gill McCarty, they could not renew the lease at the historic Science Hill property in Shelbyville. For a while they hoped that they might be able to continue, but that turned out not to be the case. Continue reading Science Hill update→

Another restaurant venture from Eric Morris, of Gospel Chicken renown, is due to open soon at 324 E. Main St., New Albany. This business, to be called Hull & Highwater, will have a seafood focus, an idea pushed by Morris’s partner, Garrett Petters, who has wanted to cook fish dishes for some time.

According to a story in the Courier-Journal,Hull & Highwater intends to aim for a middle ground between the low-end fried fish take-out places, and the upper-level fine dining seafood establishments. Patrons can expect to find a raw bar, lobster pot pie, fried or blackened fish sandwiches or baskets. Low-country boils and po’ boys will be featured, along with a catch of the day that will promote responsibility farmed fish, the origin of the fish clearly labeled. The bar will offer frozen cocktails and buckets of domestic and regional craft beers.

Morris at first envisioned his next venture as a street food restaurant that featured African, Asian and American cuisine. But when he brought on Petters, he was persuaded to turn the interior of the building that had acquired, a quondam garage with a second floor overlooking the river, into a ship’s hull, and to turn to serving seafood instead.

The restaurant will have indoor and outdoor seating, with a patio and a rooftop bar. Food & Dining will post again when the opening is firmly scheduled.

Tomorrow one of the more high-concept restaurant ideas opens its doors, and invites patrons to come in their pajamas. PJs, after all, is what many people wear when they eat their morning cereal, and cereal is what will be offered at The Cereal Box, 612 Baxter Ave. Continue reading The Cereal Box to open tomorrow→

Fond, the Crescent Hill local grocer-cum-restaurant (or is it a restaurant-cum-local grocery?) at 2520 Frankfort Ave., is offering monthly special dinners which will benefit Dare to Care, the non-profit that partners with over 300 local social service agencies such as food pantries, shelters and emergency kitchens to distribute food to those in the Louisville area that are food-insecure.

Well, the restaurant growth in the Louisville area continues apace. Since the last issue in August, Food & Dining this issue is adding 33 new restaurants to its listings, a dozen of which are additional outlets of existing businesses. Only 15 restaurants have closed, or have announced that they will do so; three of those closings are businesses that are folding one of multiple locations. So, polish up those charge cards and get ready to try some new dining spots.Continue reading Coming & Goings→

In a Facebook post today, Eric Gould owner, operator and heart and soul of the popular Shelby Park BBQ joint Smoketown USA, has announced that he will close the restaurant to pursue “other new adventures.”

Gould bought the Civil War-era building at the corner of Logan and Oak Streetsin 2002, and spent four years renovating the building. In May of 2007 Smoketown USA opened, a pioneer in the revitalization of the neighborhood. In his post, Gould proclaims his restaurant career a success, thanked all his patrons and the media, and says that after the fall bow hunting season (he is an avid sportsman) he has “plans in 2017 that will [include] local events that feature Smoketown USA so you will have plenty of opportunities to get your Smoketown fix.”

Louisville’s newest on-line restaurant news site, Eat Drink Talk, is reporting this morning that Doc’s Cantina, the much-hyped renovation of the former Tumbleweed location, has been closed. The owners, Falls City Hospitality Group, will rethink their concept and re-open with new ideas before the end of the year.

Eat Drink Talk’s Steve Coomes reports the ins and outs of the decision, and the ups and downs of the newest effort by restaurateurs Chip Hamm,Brett Davis, Michael Ton and Steven Ton that had been plagued with problems from the start.